As I was walking back to the office recently after another fix of coffee to sate my addiction, two girls were strolling in front of me and singing out loud. My first reaction was one of annoyance, but that quickly subsided. I suddenly felt a sense of joy that reminded me of the guilty rush of happiness I get when watching a musical, be it on stage or screen, from The Wizard of Oz to Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You. Singing in public, in the street, not a care in the world — how fantastic is that?

It also reminded me of a concert I went to by accident earlier in December at Tokyo Opera City. The concert hall there has the best acoustics of any I have been to in Japan, but I hadn't been to a concert there in while. So I asked my partner to pick a concert she wanted to see there and I bought the tickets.

While waiting for the concert to begin, my partner looked at the booklet we were given at the door. A photo of young boys, mostly blond, was on the cover. She said she wouldn't want to go to such a choir performance since she, like me, preferred to see an orchestra. Incredulous, I told her that this choir was what we were about to watch. She said she thought it was an orchestra from Dresden, Germany, that would be performing Christmas-themed music with soprano Maki Mori. Instead, we were about to see the Dresdner Kreuzchor, which consisted of boys ages 9 to 19 led by a 52-year-old director named Roderich Kreile.

What we thought might have been a mistake turned out to be a blessing, in the non-religious sense. My partner and I are not Christians or even religious. The songs the boys sang, occasionally accompanied by the voluptuous soprano Mori, were not the popular Christmas songs like Jingle Bells but carols by Brahms, Handel, Mozart and others, some of which were written over 400 years ago. Other than a piano that played when the soprano took the stage, the boys' voices were all that filled the hall. I couldn't understand the words that were sung, but I could sense the emotion and feel the serenity. There was something heart-warming and fulfilling about the simple human voice in song. We left the hall cheered by the beautiful music, happy we had come.

Of course, most of us cannot sing so wonderfully, but we sing as a part of life, whether in the shower or at a karaoke club, or while walking.

My favorite book, The Lord of the Rings, is filled with songs — songs of victory, history, enlightenment or remembrance, but also silly songs without serious themes. Watching the film version of the book, I was happy the filmmakers included many songs that were sung by the cast. Though I may never be so bold to sing for all the world to hear, nevertheless, the performances gave me a certain courage that singing is a worthy form of expression. There is no need for embarrassment.

Singing can help us forget our troubles and change our mood. As 2008 comes to a close, it's good to sing Auld Lang Syne or some similar tune. Perhaps the soothing, slightly melancholy nature of the song is what leads most stores in Japan to play it when a store is about to close for the day. As 2009 begins, we should forget about the troubles from the last year, remember the triumphs and lessons, and move forward.

Perhaps every day in our lives, after waking or just walking down the street at midday, a song we sing to ourselves or for all the world to hear might be just what we need to carry us to a brighter, happier future.

E-mail: yung@ml.japantimes.co.jp